Hike #1431; Flocktown to Mt Olive

Hike #1431: 8/8/21 Harrington Field/Flocktown to Mt Olive with Ken Zaruni, Jenny Tull, Justin Gurbisz, Brittany Weider, Whitney Shyposh, Diane Reider, Robin Deitz, Violet Chen, Galya, Professor John DiFiore, Sue Bennett, Neil Washington, Carolyn Gockel Gordon, and Galya.

This next one would be one I would keep closer to home just in case there was a problem with my premature son. He had only just come home from the hospital, and I took a couple of weeks off without doing any hiking just in case there was anything needed and to let Jillane rest.

The two weeks of doing just about everything was something I was totally willing and mentally prepared to do, or so I thought.
After about a week, I was sitting alone and found myself shaking like crazy. I appreciated that the Metrotrails folks were hosting hikes in my place, and that they were still out continuing. That's what I would want if I were dead, and it's what I want when I'm not available to do them. This was a real trip for me because I am very much still alive, and going online and seeing so much life continuing on without me really plays games with the mind. I felt so irrelevant. I felt like life was just going on without me. It felt amazing to be a new father, but at the same time, I also felt that the job I was doing could be done by literally anyone. There was no special talent I was bringing to this task.

I would sit alone in the hospital room or at home, and look down to see my hands shaking. I felt panicked. I felt like my place in the world was being ripped out, and I had the paranoid claim that everything I had built up with the hikes and with everything in my life would go away.

It kept going through my head how I went to California in 2004, and when I returned in 2005, the large group of regular hikers that were out with me all the time had moved on and found other groups to attend. I felt like my job would move on and any responsibilities that I had would be easily picked up by other coworkers or seasonal staff, and I was just expendable. 
It seemed so real and so obvious, almost as if the word "expendable" was written across my forehead.

I literally went from being a part of two different teams where I was a key figure to being part of nothing except my new family. That felt wonderful in its own way, but it was also awful. I was given papers to sign, trying to get me to sign over all rights to my son to his mother. I was being called useless or stupid for making mistakes through my stress and exhaustion. My hike family and my working family were gone, and my home family was screaming innocence and caustic criticism. 
As if my state of mind, on what felt like a tailspin to oblivion, was not enough, I was physically suffering in ways I was not expecting as well. It had only been two weeks since I'd done one of my hikes, and I'd barely done any walking at all. Going from the extreme of 15 plus miles twice a week to nothing at all actually led to more pain than any hiking ever has.

I started getting shin splints from lack of exercise, and I would sit on my living room floor in the mornings and try to stretch. Then, I started getting pain in my heels. I later found out this was some of the plantar fasciitis or something. My lack of walking, constantly pounding on my feet, led to me having horrible pain in my heels every time I put the least bit of pressure on them.
Then I was told I was being a baby, I was told I was making it up, I was told I was being dramatic. I was scared to death to carry the baby up or down the stairs because I had to use one arm to brace myself on the railing or I might collapse to the ground. 

I tried one time to express exactly what I was feeling, and I really got no response at all. I remember the feeling of relief that I didn't get complete insult or anger from it, but it also was far less than I needed.
After two weeks, I had to post a hike, and I knew I would get a lot of crap for it. I did, and despite the anger I still asserted that I needed this just for me. I was spending every day basically doing everything myself and I needed to feel a little normal.
Still, I set myself up with a backup. Just in case I was not able to get away, Kenny Z was going to be able to lead it in my place. I kind of had things set for a while from this point that if for some reason I couldn't be there, there would be someone else that could jump in my place.

The last night hike I had scheduled before my son Everen was born, I had to have someone else handle it for me. I directed them to some degree by phone and they handled it fine. They didn't do everything I was intending to do on it, but they got between the places they needed to be.

Ken had in recent years taken on more of a leadership role with the trails in his area, and he had done some projects I really wanted to see, so we planned this hike to cover his areas, as well as the new Morris Canal pedestrian bridge that was recently installed by Warren County on the property of Allamuchy Mountain State Park.

For this one, I planned a route that I had decided I was going to do as a night hike, but instead it would be a day one. We met like we do for those, at the Mt Olive train station to the east.

From there, we shuttled in as few cars as possible to our starting point, which would be Harrington Field on Schooleys Mountain, a colloquial area name known as Flocktown.

The first order of business would be to do the perimeter trail around the Harrington Field. This place had been along our route hiking the Patriots Path and Highlands Trail for years, going back to around 2002 when I started doing a lot of hikes in the area.

We had even done some of them while Harrington Field was totally torn up and redone back in 2004. It's been through a lot of changes, but now there was a designated route around it.

I wouldn't have parked in the lot there if we were doing this as a night hike, as the place closes at dark, so that was a nice little luxury we had this time as part of a day hike.
I had Ken tell everyone about the projects he had been working on at Harrington Field, at Cataract Park, and at another loop that is over closer to his house, and I mentioned about the new canal bridge and where we would be going from there.
Ken led the way from the start out and around the outside of the field, which had several cute little improvement projects along it. This included an interesting pollinator box, pollinator fields, wayside signs with interpretation, and a mail box for distributing trail maps and such.
We made our way all the way around the outside of the field, and then cut through a segment between homes along the Patriots Path. Ken had helped to make that section a bit better. It was getting grown in and people had been dumping stuff.

Harrington Field under construction, 2004

We made our way out soon to Flocktown Road, where the Patriots Path and Highlands Trail actually crosses to follow the edge of the yard of Flocktown-Kossman School.

Instead of staying on the official trail, Ken led us to the left on Flocktown Road, and then to the right on I guess it must have been Pheasant Drive?
I actually don't remember the route we walked in from at this point, but it was a sort of dead end that took us down into Cataract Park.
Ken explained that there used to be a house down in that way, but that it was demolished a while back. He had created a new trail that would bring people into Cataract Park from this point, at more gentle grades.
Pretty soon, we reached the Cataract Brook, with a nice little cascade on it. Ken had created a couple of trails. One went to what is known as  Young's Mine from further up the hill, which used to only be accessible via an orange trail from further down hill, and then another that goes over to the top of the Cataract Falls from above.
There was for years an informal trail that came from the old blue Cataract Falls trail below, and then made its way to the top. From there, there was a teal blazed Cataract Trail that came in from Heath Village, because it was part of the Heath Village senior housing center nearby.

This trail was developed originally around 2000 by Mr. Moss, a resident at Heath Village, to connect the Cataract Falls with the retirement village. After a few years, the trail, which was marked in teal (probably because his son Bob was Supervisor of the Highlands Trail of the same color), was abandoned.

A couple of years ago, some of that trail was rehabilitated as some of the new Cataract Park trail system.
Our friends Teun and Brian, who had hiked with us a lot, did a lot of work on it, and Kenny Z took it to the next level and blazed even more.

Ken's trail I recall was near but not directly on the one that Teun had developed just ahead here, but it was still pretty nice. I think his made a cut to the east from further down hill than the one Teun and Brian were working on. I also remember some side hill grading the two of them had done further up, but was never really blazed.

The trail soon emerged onto a power line clearing. This was originally supposed to be part of the Patriot's Path, and the route was supposed to go around and skirt the Heath Village propert. When Sue's dad, Al Kent was running the show, he had blazed the trail down this power line and then into the woods down below the last house. I showed her where he had done that when we went through this time. He never blazed all the way through, but rather had a line of ribbons that went to "The Knoll", a little outcrop of land above Heath Village. It then went uphill and picked up the route that the Patriot's Path follows today.

We went up the power line, and then reached Quail Run. This was where we re-joined the Patriot's Path and Highlands Trail. We turned left there to Winay Terrace, and then right on Sparrow Lane to reach the next bit of Patriots Path in the woods.

This section had been there for a very long time, but it used to just dead end in the woods. I used to assume where it would go through, which eventually would become the trail. It used to have a wooden gate blocking some of it years ago.

We continued out from this point to the power line clearing.
Years ago, I used to hike the power line clearing itself, until around 2009 or so when the trail was blazed through and then had a switchback down the west side of it to the abandoned segment of Mission Road. It then remained on or close to the former route of Mission Road up to the intersection of the used section of that same road, Spring Road, and Reservoir Road.
Several years ago, Teun, Brian, and Tom Edmunds laid out a newer route going across the power line and then avoiding the old Mission Road segment altogether. They turned part of it into a spur trail that went to a lime kiln. That was actually a section of trail that Jillane's girl scout troop built.

We soon emerged on the three way intersection, and followed the Patriots Path to the left. The Highlands Trail continues straight across on Mission Road at the three way.
The trail took us down Reservoir Road just a bit, and Justin found a super splendid pair of socks.
Pretty soon, the trail turns into the woods on the left. This leads out to the back of Ken's development.
From here, the Patriots Path goes further down to that, but we continued on a new trail Ken put in that connects to the Reservoir Road Trail. I had never been on this yet, and it was one of the reasons for doing this hike.
Carolyn was going to join us late, and Ken went back to his house to catch her, and to bring Whitney with him to get her some water at his place because she was almost out.

The rest of us continued through the woods, and came upon an old rusted out car frame along the trail.
Ken and the others rejoined us at a power line clearing.

I was having a lot of trouble with my body not working right for me, and on this one, my back was pretty much shot. Not only was I having foot and shin trouble, but my lack of activity in just two weeks got to be such excruciating pain that I could barely hold a backpack on my back. I had to pause a couple of times to lean up against a tree. Thankfully, Brittany came to my aid and without even asking for help she massaged the muscle area where I was seized up and it helped immensely.

After Ken came back, he led us along more of his new trail, which took us back out to Reservoir Road again. It then went into the vacant area where there used to be a house many years ago.

Reservoir Road house 2003

Reservoir Road house 2003

My brother Tea Biscuit and I had gone into these houses a few times way back, and we even got an old windshield wiper holder used by mechanics to bring back as a birthday present for our dad in there.

It was kind of neat to be walking through the driveway and former site of that house, long since demolished, to go on Ken's new trail.
It really didn't go very close to the Mine Hill Reservoir, which is an old stone dam reservoir a little further up the road.
The trail went gradually up hill, and it split in two, both of which would take us out to Drakestown Road.
We made our way out to the road and turned left, which took us gradually down hill.
From here, I had a rather weird route I wanted to take that was kind of sketchy for a few moments, but not terribly bad.
Drakestown Road actually continues on the opposite side of Rt 46 below, but it means taking a jughandle that is a bit sketchy. I knew we could walk it because it was only short.

We made our way down to the highway, turned, followed the jughandle and a little piece of the highway to reach Drakestown Road on the other side. Of course, in this short period of time, we were seen by police who wanted to know what we were up to. Fortunately, we didn't get in any trouble, and I explained we were checking out some new trails and making a through connection. No problem.
We descended on the other side of the highway for a bit, and then came out to Mine Hill Road. Drakestown Road continues to the left, and this is also the route of the Patriots Path again, but going back in the direction we had come from.

We of course were not following any normal route. I had all sorts of other weird crap planned.

We turned left and then continued to Kemple Lane on the right. This dead end road leads out to beside the Musconetcong River, at the former site of the Seber Dam.
At this point, everyone had to wade across the river. There was no other way around, and I actually put it in the description.
The river is shallow at this point, and it's really a relaxing place to go. Riverfront Park is directly across on the other side, and there is a little grassy area with interpretive signs there on the other side.

I layed down in the river to relax my back, and Brittany came over and gave me another massage without even asking me if I needed it. This was about the worst my back had gotten since I went to my chiropractor friend several years ago, and after this I haven't felt the same amount of pain. It definitely helped immensely.
We took an irregularly long break here, and then headed out of the park and onto Seber Road. We followed it north to Willow Grove Street and then turned right there briefly.

Next, we turned left onto a long lane that paralled the parking lot to the Hackettstown Hospital, and led to the Willow Grove Elementary School.
We went out in back of it and skirted the tree line behind the school, then continued in the next ball field just to the east of it.
These properties skirted the former Lackawanna Railroad tracks, now NJ Transit Morris and Essex line (and originally Morris and Essex Railroad).
We cut into the woods at the corner of that far field, which turned into a vague path along the tracks to the east. We followed them for just a little bit to the Bilby Road overpass, and then turned left to climb up to the road.

The Morris Canal closely paralleled this section of track, and then passed under Bilby Road. After the road, it is public trail on state park land, and there is a marked greenway route all the way to Waterloo Village. This would be the next leg of our journey.
We went slightly north of Bilby Road, and then turned right onto the trail to follow it through woods to the east.
Soon, we reached the Bilby Road bridge project site.
This was a spot where a creek that flows into the Morris Canal exits either at a washout site, or a site that more likely used to be a weir or drainage structure that has now eroded away.

When I first joined the Board of Recreation Commission back in 2009, this section of greenway was a high priority. It was proposed that if the state would give permission, the county would fund the construction of a bridge through this gap.

One wouldn't think it could possibly take so long to try to get something done, but with all of the permits and things being held up at the state, it literally took us over a decade to make this happen. Now, they have a formal foot bridge across. In the meantime, volunteers had constructed makeshift bridges below the washout, which worked pretty well, but there was no way to get a mower across them or anything.
I was unfortunately not able to attend the celebration to open up the new bridge despite having been a major part of it, and despite the fact that several state officials were on site. This was just basically so I could clean and repair restrooms.

We continued on the trail from this point, and made our way out to the driveway crossing beyond a collection of abandoned trailers and buildings adjacent to the towpath.
From the road, I have a hunch that an historic Library of Congress image featuring the canal and an old house to the right of it, taken from apparently a road bridge, might be this driveway crossing and a house that still stands, although in bad shape, on state park land ahead, just off of waterloo Road.
I have to look at it again with no leaves on the trees, but it looks like it could be the right site.

We walked up behind the building, and decided to check it out. I had been in the wide open back of it several times, but now it is getting to be so much worse. In the living room, there used to be a long weight bearing wall that at some point, during whatever renovations, was removed. Now, the one bracing post that was left in for this section is starting to buckle, and when it breaks, the entire roof will undoubtedly come down. It's really sad because as of now, the place could still be saved.

We headed from here further on the towpath, and the Highlands Trail joined in rom the right. We continued on the towpath ahead, and then crossed Waterloo Road where the canal once crossed toward Saxton Falls. This was the site of Lock #5 West.

The lock is still there, but it is filled in, and only the lock walls are still visible at the tops. We took a little break here and climbed around by the dam before continuing on.

From this point, the Highlands Trail used to continue following the old canal towpath, but it was moved up onto Colony Road above because no one had been maintaining the towpath.

Now, the towpath is in good shape again, but they never got around to moving the Highlands Trail back to it.
We continued following the towpath, which was a slack water navigation behind the dam on the Musconetcong River in Saxton Lake.
After the canal was abandoned in 1924, the dam remained in place here, and it supplied water for a swimming pool that utilized a short stretch of the canal. It was closed eventually when it was found to be contaminated, and the Hackettstown Community Pool opened to public.
Above the dam and lock, a bungalow community grew in the years after the 1924 abandonment. Even just a few years ago, there were many homes still standing along the water and along Colony Road.
Today, there are only three occupied homes remaining and three abandoned ones.

We continued out to the end of the canal towpath, where it has been purged in the middle of Saxton Lake. It used to continue on to where the canal left the lake again at Lock #4.
I tried to set up several more then and now history photo compilations, and then we backtracked to where the trail goes up the slope to Colony Road again, at the former site of the Ditmar House, which was demolished in the early 2000s.
We turned right on Colony Road, and I think we might have checked out one of the abandoned houses out there but I don't quite remember.
Colony Road took us back out to Waterloo Road and the Morris Canal Greenway and Highlands Trail continued along it.
Pretty soon, we came to the site of Lock #4, adjacent to the now abandoned old Lock 4 house. The lock house was in more recent years Elsie's Tavern, and many of the old supports were gutted from it, but it still retains some of its original shape.

Of the ten locks on the east half of the Morris Canal, only four of the lock houses remain standing. Three of them are still lived in, but this one, the only one on protected land, is ready to fall down if funds are not secured to restore it.
The restaurant section of the building was already demolished, which is good because it wasn't really historic, and it was a death trap. I actually fell through the floor of that side of it back in 2009.
We continued up the road from here, and the canal was to the right of the road. There is one occupied house still standing on the lake to the right, which keeps the greenway from staying on the towpath. Beyond, Waterloo Road is built partially over the canal, and the trail crosses to follow old Waterloo Road, which was above the canal to the left. No one had been maintaining that, and so we just continued following the road.

Soon, the canal turned off to the right fro the road at a spot where there used to be an ore dock further up Allamuchy Mountain along a stream (I looked for it and could not find the old mine associated with it).
We followed pleasant trail from here for a while, and then cut to the left on a side path where the trail had to come back out to Waterloo Road to avoid a couple of private homes.
We headed back into the woods soon after those, and closer to the Musconetcong River.
We soon passed the Waterloo concert field area, where the stage had somewhat recently been demolished, and then came out to Kinney Road.
Here, we left the canal and turned to the right to cross the Musconetcong River.
A little bit beyond the bridge, the former entrance to the Tilcon quarry, now state park land, was on the left. We cut in here around the fence, and walked out toward the lake.
It was loaded with people swimming, so we didn't bother to try to stop anywhere just yet. We continued to follow the edge of the lake on its north side further to the east.
Once we got over on the northeast side of the lake, there is a little spot where the water sometimes runs over into the Musconetcong from the quarry when it gets really full. This is a reasonable spot to swim because there's no one around and no one to bother us, but there is actually a bit more vegetation here which makes it not quite as welcoming as further back.

Hardly anyone went in the water here. I was really anxious to get in but other people really weren't feeling it so much and just wanted to get back to the cars. I think several went ahead at this point.

I enjoyed the water for a bit, and then we continued on the trail along the east side of the lake, which got a little narrower, and then made its way up to Waterloo Valley Road, at about the point where that road used to continue down into Waterloo Village where it crossed Waterloo Lake on a pony truss bridge. That bridge was destroyed by a quarry driver trying to get across it, and then Interstate 80 was developed over the site and severed the road connection. The road was rerouted to reach the present Mt Olive NJ Transit station site. 
We headed to the east from here back to the Mt Olive station to conclude the hike.
I had needed this day so badly, and it was even more apparent after I got home, and the next day my body felt so much better. Sure I had some muscle aches from the exercise, but my heels were not bothering me one bit any more. I could literally stomp without pain after only one day. Just everything felt so much better.
Further, I felt so relaxed. I could handle anything. The baby crying, taking care of him non stop was not a problem. I started cleaning my front porch like crazy and dishes that were outside in containers I scrubbed for hours.
It would soon evolve to where I needed both my time with my son and my time walking, and even better if I can share them together.